Graham Seeking Compromise On Fate Of Gilbert

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Bob Graham remains tight-lipped about what he will recommend today regarding clemency for self-declared mercy killer Roswell Gilbert, 76, a Broward County man who fired a 9mm Luger at his ailing wife.

With much of the Cabinet firmly opposed to freeing Gilbert, sources indicate Graham may be searching for a middle ground between releasing Gilbert or letting stand his 25-year-to-life mandatory sentence for first-degree murder. Gilbert has been jailed since May.

Among the options Graham could announce at a news conference at 10 a.m. are a full pardon, reduction of sentence, commutation of sentence to time already served, release on bail pending resolution of appeal or even a decision not to intervene at all.

But realistically -- and politically -- Graham`s choices may be much more limited.

Among the six Cabinet members (three of which must uphold Graham`s recommendation) there is strong sentiment not to pardon Gilbert or reduce his sentence to time served, according to Cabinet aides.

``In my opinion, the governor lacks sufficient votes to grant any major form of clemency,`` said Mike Staley, Cabinet aide to Agriculture Commissioner Doyle Conner.

``My anticipation is the governor will simply indicate that he`s taken the case under advisement, will monitor the case for new evidence and Mr. Gilbert`s health for possible clemency in the near future,`` Staley said. ``Unless he`s been able to convince some other Cabinet member to change his vote, I believe he lacks enough concurrences at the moment.``

Since the clemency hearing Aug. 8 when the governor and Cabinet heard attorneys reargue the Gilbert case, no Cabinet member has announced his willingness to free Gilbert -- or even to reduce the 25-year minimum mandatory sentence.

Once Graham makes his announcement today, Cabinet members may submit at any time whether they wish to concur.

But as of Tuesday, the only Cabinet member who could be counted strongly on Gilbert`s side in the clemency matter was Education Commissioner Ralph Turlington. And Turlington had taken that position even before the hearing.

Firmly positioned apparently against any immediate release of Gilbert are three Cabinet members: Comptroller Gerald Lewis, Attorney General Jim Smith and Conner. (The same position was taken Aug. 8 by the state Parole and Probation Commission, which weighed all aspects of the case and then recommended no clemency).

``One of the statements (Commissioner Conner) has made to me is he has some serious problems with people who `create their own justice,` `` Staley noted.

That leaves two Cabinet members who have not firmly put themselves in either camp: Insurance Commissioner Bill Gunter and Secretary of State George Firestone.

Gunter has been noncommittal -- refusing to indulge in the slightest speculation about the issues involved in the case. ``He will wait and react,`` said Gunter aide David Voss. Firestone, according to his aide Tom Tomasello, is troubled still by whether clemency is premature at this time for Gilbert and by whether Gilbert considered other alternatives to shooting his wife of 51 years.

The governor evidently has not lobbied Cabinet members -- nor advised them of what he has decided.

``It`s not so unusual,`` Voss noted. ``When Graham is dealing with something that gets into moral and ethical questions, as well as legal and political, he will keep it to himself.``

On March 4, Gilbert twice drew his gun and shot Emily in their Sea Ranch Lakes condominium. ``I was not morally guilty. That I know,`` Gilbert said after his imprisonment during a News & Sun-Sentinel interview.

At the trial, he defended himself by saying Emily suffered from pain and anguish brought on by Alzheimer`s disease and osteoporosis. For eight years during her illnesses, he had been Emily`s sole caretaker.

Yet during the clemency hearing, some Cabinet members clearly were troubled by aspects of the case. Those included the defense attorney`s acknowledgement that Emily could have lived at least five more years and evidence that Gilbert had not sought alternative arrangements for care.

Lewis, for instance, said at the clemency hearing that he was disturbed by hearing Gilbert say on television that he expected a pardon or commutation. ``Where do we draw the line?`` Lewis said. ``When it it all right to kill somebody . . . Is it open season on ailing people?``

There is no doubt this will be one of the better publicized decisions of the Graham administration. Gilbert`s case was featured recently on ABC`s 20/20 news magazine, and CNN today will be covering Graham`s announcement live.

``These cases, in a sense, will become more frequent simply because the population is aging. Also medical knowledge has increased, so we know in more cases what is curable and what is not curable,`` said Ernest van den Haag, a Fordham University law professor specializing in philosophical and ethical questions raised by the law.